LCH.Clearnet’s Longden Leaves CDSClear, Wells Takes Over

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd., the
world's largest clearinghouse for interest-rate swaps, said
the chief executive officer of its CDSClear unit, Charlie
Longden, has left.

Longden, one of the four business heads at the
clearinghouse, ran the credit-default-swap business. The
executive decided to leave to seek a new challenge, Kamyar
Naficy, a spokesman for LCH, said, declining to comment further.
Gavin Wells, the CEO of the company’s ForexClear service, will
take on responsibility for the CDS business.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc became the majority owner
of the clearinghouse in May and now owns 57.8 percent of the
London-based company. LCH’s chairman said in September that the
business has room to cut costs in technology and overlapping
systems after being acquired. Ian Axe, LCH’s former CEO, left
earlier this year.

LCH appointed Longden as CEO of CDSClear in 2011, hiring
him from Markit Group Ltd., where he was managing director of
fixed income. He has spent more than 20 years in credit markets
including spells at ABN AMRO Bank NV and Royal Bank of Scotland
Group Plc, according to LCH.

Wells, who runs the currency-clearing business at LCH, is a
Citigroup Inc. veteran and a former officer in the Royal
Artillery. Michael Davie will continue to run SwapClear, the
interest-rate-swap business, and LCH’s U.K. business, London-based Naficy said. Alberto Pravettoni remains chief executive of
LCH’s Repo and Exchanges business.

Clearinghouses operate as central counterparties for every
buy and sell order executed by their members, who post
collateral, reducing the threat from a trader’s default.